The Death Penalty in Taiwan and Mainland China: Should it be Abolished?

Abstract

In a retributive system of justice, only individuals who have killed others can justifiably be sentenced to death. Yet under both ancient Chinese law and modem Chinese criminal law, capital pun- ishment is not limited to crimes involving the killing of another. Besides murder, the death penalty may be imposed for crimes such as robbery, piracy, extortion and “internal disruption.” There has also been a trend toward expanding the use of the death penalty. Certain political crimes, for example, are punishable by death on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The governments of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) use the death penalty as a weapon of fear to suppress political opposition.

This comment examines capital punishment in both the ROC and the PRC. It also argues that the death penalty should be abol- ished for political crimes.